I'll freely admit it - I get sucked into retellings of fairytales. I actually have several different different retellings sitting on my shelf right now waiting to be read...
...and let me tell you - Cinder was an excellent read!
In this retelling of Cinderella, the cyborg Cinder spends her plying her trade as a gifted mechanic while trying to avoid her stepmother's ire. She doesn't remember anything about life before her accident which required her body to have mechanical implants - thus, turning her into a cyborg. Despite being considered a second class citizen, Cinder meets the handsome Prince Kai and sparks fly. Cinder embarks on a journey to try and learn about her past, find a cure for a horrible plague sweeping across the land and develop her relationship with Kai. Complications erupt, however, when the evil Lunar Queen lands in the royal house with her eyes set on snagging Prince Kai...and the land...for herself.
I think authors have to be careful when they are trying to retell a classic fairytale - sometimes the retelling can come across as unoriginal and trite. Marissa Meyer, however, has figured out how to create a new story over a classic fairytale. There were enough elements from classic Cinderella that you got that "Cinderella flavor" throughout the whole story, yet there were so many new and exciting twists and turns that you still didn't know exactly what was going to happen.
The book itself was easy and quick to read - definitely sucked me in! Like I said...I do love me a good fairytale.
I immediately went out and picked up book #2 and can't wait for #3!